TY SEGALL @ MOHAWK (SHOW REVIEW)

Ty Segall at the Mohawk: Show Review

It wasn’t the enfant terrible, punk prince version of Ty Segall that returned to the Mohawk on Tuesday night. Rather, in his place sat a calm, focused and seemingly contented singer-songwriter. Instead of thrashing guitars, distorted amps, and onstage antics, Ty opted for a stripped down acoustic set of his latest album,Sleeper. The set featured four musicians, including Ty, sitting in chairs and facing out at the Mohawk audience, like a bunch of old men jamming on a porch. Despite my initial disappointment in knowing that I wouldn’t see Ty perform in his rawest and most primal state, I was pleasantly surprised by the show I got instead.

The openers for the bill included Hidden Ritual, a psychedelic rock quartet that played an impressive set, followed by Holy Wave, a sonic throwback to 60’s psych-rock that fall in the same vein as other reputable local acts like Night Beats and the Black Angels.

Ty opened his set with the title track off his latest album, which had a familiar Neil Young, chord-heavy sound to it. It was obvious that Ty had left his embattled, reckless, punk persona at home for the tour and embraced a purer and more intimate side of his musicality. Although Ty’s typical brash and combative style was muted for this performance. However, the visceral streak of unfiltered emotion still found its way into the songs, keeping the audience in a perpetual head nod throughout the show.

Songs like “Man Man” and “6th Street” had heavy grunge and garage influences, leaving the audience to wonder what they would sound had they been sped up. Yet there were other songs like “ She Don’t Care” and “The West” that were rife with influences from Cat Stevens and David Bowie that Ty could never have written had he remained in his punk motif.

With Sleeper it is evident that Ty wanted to get away from the hellacious garage punk that he has become known for. He wanted to explore a basic, musical medium that offered far more creative options and avenues for self-expression. In doing so, Ty has proven that his songwriting skills run much deeper than a two-minute punk song, and that he has abilities that are commensurate of any talented singer/songwriter from the 70’s.

Ty rumbled through all of the ten songs off of Sleeper before getting to some fan favorites like “Girlfriend” and “Ghost” from previous albums at the end of the set. As Ty played his final encore, a sole crowd surfer was passed along in the pit, and it became clear that Ty’s loyal fans were anything but resistant to his new artistic direction, because after all, good music is good music, even if it doesn’t involve shredding guitar riffs until your fingers bleed. -Lee Ackerley